All I Ask of You
by Admetus
Summary: One day Mungojerrie sees a mysterious white queen, who is a prisoner of Macavity's, and falls instantly in love with her. Will he be able to gain her trust and rescue her from her prison? xx
1. Chapter 1

"Wake up, Jerrie! Wake up! It's time ter get up!" Mungojerrie smiled and streched. He would miss this when Rumpleteazer moved out, being woken at the crack of dawn every day because his best friend was bored. She got up hours before everybody else in the Junkyard and could never think of anything to do alone so she always woke him with some stupid suggestion or idiotic plan to make mischief, in short exactly the kind of idea he liked. They had had so much fun in the mornings while everyone else was asleep, playing pranks on their fellow Jellicle, stealing from humans or racing each other over the piles of junk. Mungojerrie sighed, it would be different now Rumpleteazer had found Tumblebrutus and decided to settle down with him, well, as much as Rumplteazer was ever likely to settle down. She would probably never be the calm, quiet type who wanted a family and cared about cushions and curtains and things. She would always want to daringly steal pretty shiney things off humans and be generally reckless and silly but that was exactly what Mungojerrie liked so much about her.

His thoughts were interrupted by Rumpleteazer jumping onto his bed and shaking him violently from side to side in an attempt tp wake him up. "Yor so lazy, Jerrie. Wake up," she giggled in his ear knowing he was already awake. He swatted a paw at her in a half-hearted attempt to make her go away but she dodged and came straight back again laughing. "Yer missed me!" She knocked the pillows he had been lying comfortably on onto the floor and with a final shake the little calico queen jumped back off her friend's bed and grabbed his blanket pulling it off him.

"Teaz! Give that back! Oi'm up, ain't oi?", Mungojerrie exclaimed and sat up in bed glaring in mock disaproval at Rumpleteazer who had a very smug and triumphant expression on her face and had wrapped herself warmly in his blanket. "Yor a nightmare, yer are. Oi don't know 'ow oi survived wiv yer for so long. Good luck ter poor Tumble." The tom streched and got up. Suddenly without warning he lauched himself across the room and grabbed Rumpleteazer who shrieked and squirmed trying to get free. After a brief struggle Mungojerrie untangled his blanket from round the giggling queen and threw it back onto his bed. He dragged her out of his room and back into the main part of the den and dropped her onto a cushion where she sat looking innocently up at him with her big green eyes. "Wotcher want ter do now? Do yer want ter start packin' yor stuff yet?", he asked her.

"That's so borin'. Oi want ter do sumfink more fun on me last day 'ere. Tumble can 'elp me pack later." Shruggling Rumpleteazer got up and wandered over to the shelf where they kept their food and helped herself to a mouse. "We could play that prank on Munkustrap that we 'ad planned." She grinned enthusiastically and threw a mouse at Mungojerrie when he wasn't looking so it hit him on the side of the head making her giggle. Mungojerrie rolled his eyes and pretended not to be bothered but when Rumpleteazer wasn't looking he threw it back at her so it hit her with an unpleasant squelch and made her jump. "Don't do that, Jerrie. It's disgustin'. Yor messing wiv yor food."

"Yer started it. Any road oi fought yer wanted ter play that prank on Munkustrap now. We'd better get going or 'e'll already 'ave left 'is den." Mungojerrie crept outside with Rumpleteazer trailing behind him. They sneaked around the edge of the Junkyard towards the den Munkustrap shared with Demeter so that nobody who happened to be up early would see them. They were almost invisible to anybody watching anyway as their striped fur blended in with the criss-crossing shadows cast by the rubbish. As they neared their target the two cats slowed down and one of them disappeared for a second only to return dragging a heavy paint can along behind them.

"Don't get any on us will yer, Jerrie. Oi don't fancy bein' dyed green, it's not me colour ," Rumpleteazer's voice whispered quietly from out of the shadows and she moved to a safe distance away from her friend and the paint in case it splashed. She couldn't wait to see the look on Munkustrap's face when they played this prank on him. They were going to place the paint above the entrance to his den and then Rumpleteazer was going to scream so he would come running out and Mungojerrie could pour the paint on him dying him green. The best part was he wouldn't be able to get rid of the colour for about a week. Mungojerrie had got paint on him when he brushed against a freshly painted wall while stealing a necklace and that had given them the idea. It would be such a laugh to see the serious protector of the tribe in bright green. Rumpleteazer was already sniggering at the thought.

"Focus, Teaz. Go and sit over there and wen oi give the signal scream, ok?" Mungojerrie dragged the can of paint away and began to slowly climb the rubbish to reach the den roof holding the paint as far away from his fur as possible. It was a particularly bright poisonous green, so bright in fact it almost glowed in the dark. He had spotted it in a far corner of the Junkyard and it had seemed perfect for this prank so they had hidden it close to their victim's den ready for when they needed it. Mungojerrie had now reached the front edge of the den roof and poised the can right over the entrance. He looked up and nodded to his partner in crime.

Rumpleteazer was now positioned opposite Mungojerrie on an old, broken chair and was waiting for the signal. As soon as she saw Mungojerrie nod she began to scream as if she was being murdered. It even made the calico tom watching her jump it was that loud.

Just like they had known he would Munkustrap came running out of his den and paused to look for the source of the noise. Mungojerrie tipped the paint can and the bright green paint seemed to fall almost in slow motion towards the cat below. The aim was perfect and the whole can landed right on Munkustrap who let out a horrified yell and jumped to the side almost falling over his own feet. He whirled round looking for any sign of the culprits but they had both disappeared before he could see who it was. All he heard was hysterical laughter fading away into the distance.

Once far enough away the two troublemakers stopped and clutched at each other for support they were laughing so hard. Looking back they saw a furious Munkustrap searching for them. He was a bright, unforgiving green that almost hurt your eyes to look at it. Only his tail was still it's normal silver and black colour. Somehow that just made the whole thing look just that bit more ridiculous. "Did yer see 'is face?", Rumpleteazer gasped between laughter, "'e were livid." All Mungojerrie could manage was a nod as he was still sniggering too hard to talk.

"We'd better get 'ome and pretend ter be 'avin' breakfast or sumfink," Mungojerrie finally managed to say after a few more minutes of helpless laughter, "'e might come ter see if it were us." Together they ran as fast as they could back to their den and threw themselves inside. Mungojerrie grabbed a book and hastily sat down and pretended to be reading it and Rumpleteazer snatched up a bowl of leftovers from last nights supper and began to eat.

They only just got back in time. Seconds after they had sat down a green and very angry Munkustrap burst into the den. "Was this you?", he shouted and glared furiously from one cat to the other. Both of them had arranged their faces into looks of surprise at the sudden interruption and shock at Munkustrap's new look. Mungojerrie had frozen in the act of turning the page of his book and Rumpleteazer had a rat's tail hanging out her mouth.

"Woss 'appened ter yer, Munku? Why do yer look like that?", Rumpleteazer managed to get out after a long silence where both calicos stared at the now green tabby.

"Were wot us?", Mungojerrie asked at the same moment. Both culprits were keeping surprisingly straight faces for the moment but Mungojerrie was keen to get rid of the Jellicle protector before his friend began to giggle and gave everything away. Already Rumpleteazer was shaking very slightly with suppressed laughter and seem to find it hard to look Munkustrap in the eye.

"This!" The furious tom waved a paw at his fur and gave Mungojerrie an angry look. "If it was, you're both in so much trouble! I'll..."

Quickly before he could finish his threat Mungojerrie interrupted, "That weren't us. Are yer sure it were on purpose? If it were maybe it were one of the kittens because it definitely weren't us." He looked up at the other tom with wide innocent eyes and Rumpleteazer nodded to back him up, too close to bursting out laughing to actually speak. They were both so good at lying that Munkustrap found it impossible not to believe them, after all they had had years of practice lying to Jennyanydots about where they had been when they were out stealing things.

There was a long silence and then Munkustrap snapped, "If I find out it was you you'll regret it." and stormed from the den leaving a trail of paw-prints behind him.

As soon as he had gone Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer burst out laughing all over again. "That were close," Rumpleteazer giggled and offered Mungojerrie the bowl of food. "Want any?" The food didn't look very nice. It was everything they'd had left when they had eaten their supper the night before and it was all mixed together making it look more like vomit than anything else.

Mungojerrie shook his head in disgust and pulled a face. There was no way he was eating that, not even if somebody paid him. "Wait 'ere, Teaz. Oi've got sumfink for yer," he said and hurried back into his part of the den. Under some spare blankets he had hidden a bowl of salmon and some new pearls for Rumpleteazer as a kind of moving-out-present. Picking them up Mungojerrie hurried back to his friend who had already got bored of waiting after just a few seconds and wandered after him. "Oi got these for yer." He held them out to a surprised Rumpleteazer. She hadn't expected him to get her anything.

"They're wonderful. Thank yer," Rumpleteazer whispered and her eyes began to fill with tears as she pulled Mungojerrie into a bone-crushing hug. By the time she let go she was crying properly and clutching the necklace to her chest.

"Don't go all soft on me! Yor only movin' next door." Mungojerrie looked horrified and patted Rumpleteazer's paw awkwardly. She hardly ever cried and he wasn't sure how to make her feel better again. This hadn't been what he had planned when he got her a present. He had been hoping for laughter and smiles not tears.

"Sorry, oi'm bein' silly. Let's go and eat this fish." Rumpleteazer shared out the food between them and they sat down to eat. It didn't take long for Rumpleteazer to cheer up again and by the time Tumblebrutus arrived to help her pack and carry her things to his den she was laughing and chatting as normal. "Hi, Tumble," she called as soon as she noticed him and jumped up to give him a big hug.

"Hi." Mungojerrie tried to smile and sound pleased to see his friend but he couldn't help feeling just a little bit jealous and wanting him to go away again even though he knew it was stupid. "Sure yer 'aven't changed yor mind? She's a nightmare." Mungojerrie smirked at Rumpleteazer who swatted him with a paw.

"O'course 'e 'asn't changed 'is mind, Jerrie. Don't give 'im any ideas." Rumpleteazer couldn't help glancing up at Tumblebrutus just to make sure he hadn't decided he didn't want to live with her after all but he was laughing so she felt reassured.

"Good morning, you two," Tumblebrutus said cheerfully, "Sorry, Jerrie, I haven't changed my mind. Looking at your faces you'd think you were moving miles away not just a few seconds away. You can still visit each other all the time and everything." Tumblebrutus had noticed that despite their seemingly good mood both friends were actually looking quite miserable in comparison to their normal hyperactive selves. "By the way, I saw Munkustrap as I was coming over here and I noticed he'd done something different with his fur today. It was green. That didn't have anything to do with you did it?", he said trying to distract them.

"Us?", Rumpleteazer looked shocked, "Would we do somefink like that?" She gave her new mate the most innocent look she could manage that just made him more suspicious.

"Yes, you would actually. It's exactly the kind of thing you would find funny. You have to promise never to dye me a strange colour otherwise Jerrie can have you back again." The fact Tumblebrutus was grinning spoilt the threat but Rumpleteazer still shook her head looking serious.

"Oi would never dye yer a strange colour. Oi promise." She giggled at the sceptical look on Tumble's face. He clearly didn't believe her. "Oi wouldn't!" Her indignant, mock hurt voice made Mungojerrie and Tumblebrutus laugh and Mungojerrie pulled her into a hug.

"Oi would," he whispered mischievously in her ear and ruffled her fur playfully. "We'd better get packin' or yer'll still be 'ere tomorrow," Mungojerrie said out loud and let go of Rumpleteazer who wandered back over to her food and finished off the fish she had left uneaten when Tumblebrutus arrived. While she finished the food her best friend took Tumblebrutus through to her part of the den, which was separated from the rest by a faded red curtain, and together they stared in horror at the amount of junk Rumpleteazer seemed to have collected over the years. There were things she had stolen with Mungojerrie like necklaces and pretty vases but there were also books, old newspapers, blankets, hundreds of cushions, two folded sets of curtains, a teddy bear, a tin full of coins Rumpleteazer had found, loads of different coloured pencils and lots of other odds and ends.

"How can she need all this stuff?", Tumblebrutus managed to ask after a long silence where neither tom could tear their eyes away from the chaos they were about to have to sort out. "Does she want to keep it all or is she planning to get rid of some of it?" There was a slightly desperate note to Tumblebrutus' voice when he asked that and he really hoped Rumpleteazer would be able to tell them what she wanted and how to find it. He was dreading her insisting that she needed all the things crammed into the small space and they would have to find somewhere to put them in the new den. Mungojerrie's vague shrug did nothing to reassure him and Tumblebrutus could see himself spending the whole day sorting rubbish. At that moment the owner of the junk arrived with a huge smile on her face as if the mess in her room was perfectly normal for the morning when she planned to move out.

"Woss the matter?", she asked looking from one tom to the other and back again.

"Are yer takin' all this stuff?", Mungojerrie nervously asked not really sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"O'course not, most of it's rubbish." Rumpleteazer rolled her eyes and walked over to a smaller pile of things in the corner. "This is the stuff oi'm taking." Tumblebrutus and Mungojerrie both let out a sigh of relief and moved forwards to help her pick up some boxes and move them out the den.

Secretly Mungojerrie was hoping it would take hours so Rumpleteazer would have to stay another day but it only took an hour for them to move everything into the new den and stack it all neatly in the middle of the floor. When they had finished Mungojerrie felt rather sad and already quite lonely but he didn't want Rumpleteazer to see so he beamed at her, hugged her and told her how great it would look when she had unpacked. Of course she knew him too well to actually be fooled.

"Jerrie, Oi've got somefink for yer." The little queen rummaged through her things and pulled out a battered book. "Oi'd like yer ter 'ave this." It was the scrapbook she kept newspaper clippings in about things she had stolen with Mungojerrie.

"Oi don't know wot ter say. Oi can't take this." Mungojerrie looked down at the book and struggled to not burst into embarrassing tears. It was just so hard to imagine not living with Rumpleteazer. They had lived together for as long as he could remember and the den would feel so empty without her. Mungojerrie hugged her tightly. "Thanks. Oi'd better go now." Rumpleteazer nodded and hugged him back and he walked slowly back to his own den flicking through the scrapbook. The clippings made him laugh as he looked at them: _Priceless necklace stolen, Still no leads in jewel robbery, Antique vase reported missing_ and things like that. Some of them were from years ago. Typical of Rumpleteazer to keep them this long. Mungojerrie smiled fondly at the faded old newspaper articles.

When he reached the den Mungojerrie put the book down and became his usual practical self again. Unlike his partner in crime he didn't just steal for fun, he had a job to do and he would be late if he didn't hurry. The calico tom left his den and crept silently out of the Junkyard vanishing into an alley beyond.


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing moved in the quiet street on the edge of the city except for one small cat. He was pacing backwards and forwards in front of a stylish old building that had been converted into a number of very expensive flats. The toms eyes were fixed on a window on the second floor that was open slightly through which he could hear the sound of a woman talking to some one as she got ready to go out. What she was saying was boring to say the least but he needed to be sure she had gone before he made his move. Mungojerrie rolled his eyes as the woman briefly came into view holding up some earrings and asking her friend if they went with her dress. _Go away!,_ he mentally snapped at her and stalked across the road to get a clearer view of the window. She now seemed to be debating what coat to wear which was taking forever but at least it meant she was almost ready to go. The calico tom's tail flicked nervously as the human changed her mind again. He had already been watching the flat for hours and his boss had been very specific about wanting the object he was here to steal by five o'clock at the latest. He was running out of time. It would take an hour to get from here to the boss' headquarters and it was already three o'clock. Mungojerrie resumed his pacing silently cursing the human upstairs.

At last the woman and her friend came out of the building and made their way slowly down the ornate stone steps towards Mungojerrie. The cat ducked out of sight behind a very expensive black sports car and waited for them to get into their own vehicle and drive away. Finally they were gone and the burglar crept from his hiding place and checking the coast was clear he bounded up the steps and expertly began to climb the wall. The bricks were old and worn and it took less than a minute to reach the second floor and slip silently in through the open window. So far this was turning out to be one of the easiest burglaries in a long time.

The room was furnished in cream and a rather unforgiving burnt orange that didn't go at all. Mungojerrie wrinkled his nose. The flat smelt so strongly of perfume and flowers that it was almost making him sneeze. The tom scanned the room for the small antique vase he had been sent to get. Opposite the window was a large mirror above a cream sofa with orange silk cushions and an orange throw. Beside it was a bookcase full of little shiny glass animals and books that looked like they had never been touched and a tall swirly cream lamp. In the middle of the floor was a glass coffee table stood on an orange rug with a huge vase of flowers on it. The rest of the room was taken up by some uncomfortable looking cream chairs, an expensive flat-screen TV and a decorative fireplace with some flowers in the grate. No sign of the vase here.

Mungojerrie crossed the room, pushed open the door and found himself in a hallway with a small glittering chandelier, a dark wooden side table with more flowers on it and a thick cream carpet. Opposite the room he was in another door was ajar and the burglar could see a bed and dressing table through the gap. The bedroom was as good a place as any to continue his search so he nipped across the hall and through the door. He was greeted by fluffy cream cushions, light wooden furniture and baby blue ornaments and curtains. This room didn't take long to check. He only had to look quickly around to see there was nothing of interest here. At least now he understood why the woman had been trying earrings on in her living room. It would be far to embarrassing to let anybody see the mess in her bedroom. Clothes covered the floor and spilled out of the wardrobe, make-up littered every surface, the bed hadn't been made, there were empty wine glasses on the windowsill and the books from the bookcase were all stacked haphazardly on the floor in front of it. Even Rumpleteazer wasn't this messy Mungojerrie thought as he left the room again.

Thinking about his friend had made him miss her again and he suddenly wished she was here with him even if she was normally more of a hindrance than a help. She would have loved to get muddy paw prints all over the cream cushions. His friend had a strange aversion to the colour cream. The tom shook his head. Now was not the time to be thinking about Rumpleteazer and wondering what she was doing with Tumblebrutus right now, he had a job to do.

The next door he tried was the door to the kitchen. There was a big clock opposite the entrance telling him it was already twenty past three. He really needed to hurry up. Again Mungojerrie scanned the room but this time with more luck. On the windowsill was a small blue and green vase fitting the description of the antique he was looking for. In a flash the burglar was crouched on the draining-board by the window examining the vase. It was small and light, painted a light blue with rich dark green plants swirling up it. Just like his boss had described. Personally Mungojerrie couldn't see why anybody would want it as it was rather ugly but he wasn't paid to give an opinion on the things he stole. Pulling out a small sack Mungojerrie let the ornament slide into it with a smug grin. This had almost been too easy.

He jumped down off the side and carefully crossed the hall back into the living room. Just as he was about to run to the window he heard the door to the flat slam behind him. "I wont be a minute, I just forgot my purse!", a woman's voice called and footsteps approached the door the tom had just entered through. Without thinking Mungojerrie dived behind the large cream leather sofa and crouched there very still trying not to make a sound. From his hiding place he saw some red high healed shoes come into view and cross the room. "It's not here! I must have left it in my room." The woman left the room again and the cat behind her sofa breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly he slipped out and jogged over to the window. It was easy enough to climb back down to ground level and the calico tom was gone before the woman came back out of her flat. It would be hours before she even noticed the vase had gone missing.

Across the road Mungojerrie was silently making his way along the pavement hidden by the shadows from a tall, neatly pruned hedge. He knew this neighbourhood so well that he could stroll casually along thinking of other things knowing where the dangers were and were he had to be careful not to be seen. For instance the tom knew that a large and very viscous grey dog lived at the end of this street on the side of the road he was on and if he cut across a nearby garden and jumped a low brick wall he could avoid going past it completely and save five minutes walking time. Mungojerrie began to whistle a cheerful tune as he slipped under the hedge and made his way across the perfectly maintained lawn beyond. The sun was shining and the traffic was so quiet here that the cat could clearly hear a bird singing nearby. In short it was the perfect afternoon for a walk, or it would have been if he hadn't been in a hurry and carrying a vase. With a sigh the tom quickened his pace to an easy jog and was soon across the lawn and in a smaller street with less expensive houses. There was never anybody about there at this time of day so Mungojerrie made good progress not having to be careful to stay out of sight.

_Oi wonder wot Teaz is up ter at the moment. Oi bet she's not even finkin' about me, she's probably too busy arrangin' 'er nice new den or sumfink, _Mungojerrie thought grumpily as he hurried along, _She's probably too busy wiv Tumblebrutus ter care about wot Oi'm doin'. Oi bet they're already snuggled up togeffer talkin' about the future or sumfink. _In fact Rumpleteazer was missing Mungojerrie as much as he was missing her even though she had Tumblebrutus now but of course he couldn't know that. _Listen ter me. Oi sound like such an idiot. Oi can't believe oi sound jealous of me best friend. _The calico tom shook his head angrily at himself and marched on trying to think of something else. _Oi bet this 'orrible vase is worff quite a bit or the boss wouldn't want it. Oi can't see 'oo'd buy the fink fough. _Mungojerrie remembered the unattractive colours and ugly pattern. _Oi wonder if 'e's gonna sell it or keep it. Probably sell it. Even 'e wouldn't keep it, it's too 'ideous. _

By now he had reached a scruffier area and the houses were slowly giving way to warehouses. The streets were narrow and grimy and down some of the alleys branching off from the road Mungojerrie was following he could see scraggy, thin cats fighting over scraps from bins. He shuddered at the thought of having to eat out of a bin and hurried on. This was his least favourite part of the city and also where his boss had decided to have his headquarters. The burglar turned off down a narrow alley and squeezed through a gap in an old wire fence to cut across another alley and make his way back to a wider street. A few more confusing short-cuts later and Mungojerrie was sauntering down a deserted road past warehouses with smashed windows and cracked walls towards a large building in slightly better repair than the ones around it.

"What took you? You're almost late." An elegant dark grey Persian queen stepped out of the shadows to Mungojerrie's right blocking his path.

"'Allo, Dylana. Wotcher doin' out 'ere?" Mungojerrie smirked at the queen and shifted the sack with the vase to a more comfortable position on his back. He wasn't really in the mood to talk to the queen and he didn't really have time but it could have been worse. Some of the other henchcats were harder to talk to and harder to get rid of again. At least Dylana was friendly enough most of the time if you didn't annoy her.

"I was catching some dinner." She gestured to a small pile of mice on the pavement beside her. "If I were you I'd hurry up though. He's getting quite impatient waiting for you." The queen gave him a sickly sweet smile. "I wouldn't like to find out what he'd do if you were late."

"Thanks for the warnin'." Mungojerrie pushed past Dylana and left her standing watching him with a grin on her face. He quickly walked the last bit of the way and slipped into the warehouse through a crack in the door. The ground floor of the warehouse was one huge room that had been separated into different rooms at one side by some large wooden boards. This was where the guards like Dylana lived. At the far side of the building was a flight of metal stairs leading up to the second floor were there had once been a number of offices. Mungojerrie made straight for the stairs and quickly leapt up them very conscious of being watched by somebody in the shadows, probably one of the guards. Once at the top of the stairs Mungojerrie hurried down a corridor and stopped outside a large wooden door at the far end of the warehouse. He knocked loudly and waited.

"Come in!", a bored sounding voice called from inside and the burglar pushed the door open and entered. The room was large with a huge desk covered in papers and countless shelves of books all around the walls. The window had been boarded up so nobody could see in from outside so the only light came from a bare bulb dangling from the ceiling. A huge map of London covered the board over the window and there was an old leather chair behind the desk. In the middle of the room Macavity turned to look at his employee. "You're late," he hissed.

"Oi'm sorry, boss. Oi 'ad ter wait for ages for the woman ter leave." Mungojerrie scuffed his paws uncomfortably and avoided Macavity's furious glare.

"But you got it?", Macavity demanded impatiently. The thief nodded and pulled the vase out of the sack he was carrying. Macavity snatched it off him and examined it carefully. "Good, good," he muttered to himself and stroked the antique. "Get out!", he ordered without even looking up at Mungojerrie.

The calico tom hastily backed from the room and closed the door behind him. He let out a long sigh of relief and turned to leave. At that moment he heard a strange noise coming from one of the other rooms. It sounded like somebody crying. Slowly Mungojerrie moved closer to the door, alert for any other sounds coming from within. As he was almost level with it the door opened and another of Macavity's guards came out. Before the door fell shut behind him Mungojerrie caught a glimpse of a young white queen huddled in a corner crying. There was a long chain attaching her leg to a ring in the wall and he could see blood where the metal had rubbed her skin away. She was the most beautiful thing Mungojerrie had ever seen and he would have given anything to be able to go into the room and comfort her.

"'oo were that, Tocho?", Mungojerrie asked the other tom as the door snapped shut hiding the little queen from view.

The Abyssinian shrugged his shoulders. "Just some prisoner. We're not allowed near her apart from to give her food. Boss's orders." He turned and walked away from Mungojerrie clearly not interested enough in the captive to want to talk about her.

Mungojerrie jogged to catch him up. "Where did she come from?", the calico tom wanted to know.

Unhelpfully Tocho shrugged again and carried on walking. "We were just told the other day that she was there and we had to give her food. I don't know or care where she came from." He left Mungojerrie behind and jumped lightly down the stairs and out of sight.

For a few minutes Mungojerrie stayed where he was gazing wistfully at the door hiding the mysterious queen from view. He wished he could go over and talk to her and stop her from crying. She had looked so sad and lonely and so vulnerable. The poor thing needed some one to protect her. As he was stood there thinking he heard the sound of Macavity pacing. If he was caught staring at the room with the prisoner his boss was so secretive about he was likely to get into serious trouble. Better to leave now before he looked too interested. Mungojerrie sprang down the stairs and made his way quickly back outside. To his immense relief there was no sign of Dylana. He really didn't want to talk to her now. All he wanted to do was think about the little white queen. Slowly Mungojerrie turned for home.


	3. Chapter 3

_This is stewpid! 'ow can oi still be finkin' about 'er? Oi only seen her for a second. _It had been a whole day and Mungojerrie still couldn't get the white queen out of his mind. Every time he closed his eyes he could see her huddled in a corner crying, alone and afraid. He hadn't been able to concentrate on anything else. As soon as he got home Mungojerrie had gone to his den and stayed there for the rest of the day. Now it was late afternoon of the following day and he was still in his den obsessing over how to help a queen he'd only ever caught a glimpse of once.

Slowly he got up and crossed his den to get a drink of water from the bucket by the door. It was empty as he had forgotten to refill it the day before. Mungojerrie sighed and sat looking out over the Junkyard. He shouldn't let it get to him so much. Macavity had kept plenty of other cats prisoner over the years Mungojerrie had worked for him and none of them had ever made him feel so...He paused. How did he feel? Useless? No that was the wrong word. Angry? No he wasn't really angry. Protective? That was better. Protective. He wanted to protect this unknown queen from Macavity, but how? What could he do to help her? Nothing, there was nothing he could do. He'd seen what happened to prisoners when Macavity got bored of them. The though made him shudder.

"Are you alright, Jerrie?", a quiet voice asked making him jump. Tantomile came to sit beside him and lent her head supportively against his shoulder. It was a pointless question really because the psychic queen knew he wasn't alright but it was an invitation to talk about what was bothering him if he wanted to.

Mungojerrie sighed and shifted his weight so he was snuggling against his friend. She always made him feel better when he was upset without even trying. It was something about the way she seemed to radiate calm and was never sad herself that cheered him up. "Oi don't know." He shrugged and lent his cheek against the top of the smaller cats head. "It were sumfink oi seen yesterday. It were a little queen and she were sad and oi wish oi could 'elp 'er." He stopped. It was difficult to talk about where he had seen the queen even though Tantomile knew that he worked for Macavity. The others didn't know and he didn't want them to find out. Saying they would not be happy was an understatement, they'd be furious.

Tantomile looked up out the corner of her eye at the calico tom and put her paw on his. Normally he was so enthusiastic and happy that it worried her when he was sad. Clearly this queen had made a big impression on him if he was still depressed a day later. "Why can't you help her?", Tantomile wanted to know.

"She's a prisoner and oi don't know 'ow ter rescue 'er. Even if oi did oi doubt she'd trust me." Mungojerrie stood up and walked a few steps away from his friend to look vaguely into the distance. He knew it was no use. He'd never even be able to find out who she was let alone save her from Macavity. Absent-mindedly he watched Pouncival and Etcetera playing with a rubber ball.

Without Mungojerrie noticing Tantomile came to stand beside him. "I didn't think you were the type to give up." At that the tom glanced quickly down at her. He hated the thought of giving up and the queen knew that. It had the desired effect, the sad look vanished from his face to be replaced by a look of steely determination. Pleased with herself Tantomile smiled. "If you need any help at all don't hesitate to ask." She reached up and licked Mungojerrie's cheek affectionately, turned and was gone before he had time to thank her.

_She's right. Oi'll fink of a plan. It can't be that 'ard. _Mungojerrie began to pace up and down outside his den. He felt confident he would be able to think of something. All he had to do was think of it as if he was planning a burglary. Before he could get any further with his plans he was interrupted by Tumblebrutus who came over and sat down beside him. The young tom looked nervous and was playing with the dirt at his paws avoiding looking directly at his friend. "Woss up, Tumble?", Mungojerrie asked curiously when the other tom made no attempt to start speaking and just continued to stare at the floor.

"I was wondering if you were ok," Tumblebrutus muttered almost too quietly for Mungojerrie to hear him.

Genuinely baffled the calico tom racked his brain for anything he had done that might be worrying Tumblebrutus. There was nothing obvious he could think of. Maybe Tumblebrutus had done something he thought might upset Mungojerrie? "Oi'm fine, Tumble. Why wouldn't oi be?"

Looking embarrassed Tumblebrutus glanced at his friend and quickly away again. "You didn't get up on time this morning," he practically whispered, "In fact nobody's seen you since yesterday, until now obviously. I thought you might be sad because Teaz had gone and I thought you might be angry with me because she had come to live with me." He hung his head looking dejected.

It was certainly not what Mungojerrie had been expecting him to say and he almost felt like laughing it was so far from what was actually wrong. He was happy for Rumpleteazer and definitely not angry with Tumblebrutus. He didn't laugh though, he patted the other toms paw awkwardly. "O'course oi'm not angry wiv yer. Oi just didn't feel great this mornin', that's all."

Immediately Tumblebrutus brightened up. "So you're not cross?" When Mungojerrie shook his head Tumblebrutus' face broke into a grin. "I'll see you later then." He laughed and got to his feet very relieved that they were still friends. Waving he bounded away across the Junkyard towards Plato who had just come back from a hunting trip, leaving Mungojerrie alone again.

_Finally some time ter ffink. Oi'll just..._ A ball came sailing through the air and smacked into the side of Mungojerrie's head. Startling him and knocking him off balance so he fell backwards and landed uncomfortably in the dirt. When he struggled back up into a sitting position Pouncival and Etcetera were sat opposite him identical mischievous grins on their little faces. "Wot were that for?", he exclaimed and swatted at the two kittens with his paw. They jumped back giggling and Etcetera stuck her tongue out at Mungojerrie.

"It was an accident," Pouncival insisted innocently but the fact both kittens were trying as hard as they could not to laugh made Mungojerrie think it probably wasn't.

Picking up the ball he tossed it as far as he could. It hit an old sofa and rolled down into a stack of paint cans where it vanished from view. "Go and play." Not needing to be told twice Pouncival and Etcetera sped off after the ball. For a few minutes Mungojerrie watched them rummaging through paint cans searching for their toy but lost interest when they found it and began to roll it around the Junkyard again. Stretching out in a warm patch of sunlight and closing his eyes he tried to give the impression he was asleep so he would have time to think undisturbed. _First oi need ter find a way ter talk ter her,_ he decided, _Oi can't do anyfink if she don't trust me and want me 'elp. That means oi need ter spend more time workin' for Macavity so that 'e'll let me near 'er. Maybe oi could offer ter help out by takin' 'er 'er food or sumfink. It's worff a go. _ Happy that he had made a decision and had a plan of action, at least for now, Mungojerrie yawned and settled down for an actual nap. He'd need to be rested if he was actually going to go through with this. _Oi'll fink of 'ow ter actually rescue 'er wen oi know she wants me 'elp,_ he thought just before he dozed off.

"Wake up, Jerrie!" Slowly Mungojerrie opened his eyes. A small paw was vigorously shaking him and he could hear Rumpleteazer's voice telling him to get up. For a moment he was confused as to where he was, whatever he was lying on was uncomfortable and hard and he was colder than he should have been. Also he noticed he was wet. Drizzle was falling on him and his thick fur was already soaked through. Then the tom remembered falling asleep in front of his den in the sun. That was why it wasn't warm and comfortable, he was asleep on an old wooden crate outside and at some point it must have started raining. Stiffly he clambered to his feet and stretched his painfully aching muscles.

"Me back's killin' me," he complained grumpily and glared accusingly at his best friend who was trying her best not to laugh at his untidy and bedraggled appearance, "Yer could 'ave woken me a bit sooner."

"Don't look so cross, Jerrie. Yer look good wet," Rumpleteazer giggled. She dodged nimbly out the way as the tom aimed a paw at her head and laughed. "Let's go inside and get some food. Oi'm stavin'." Without waiting for an invitation the little calico queen slipped into Mungojerrie's den and began to rummage through the food he had left until she found something she wanted.

With an exasperated sigh her friend shook the water out his fur and followed her inside. Leaving Rumpleteazer to look for something to eat Mungojerrie went to find something to dry himself off with. When he came back the queen had fetched two portions of food and a warm blanket and was sat huddled under the rug playing with her food. For somebody who had said she was starving she didn't look very keen on eating. Slipping under the blanket beside her Mungojerrie began to gobble his food. He only realised now exactly how hungry he actually was, after all he hadn't eaten since they day before.

"Jerrie, can oi talk ter yer?", Rumpleteazer asked after a few minutes of watching the tom eat. She had a distracted look on her face. Something was clearly bothering her.

"O'course yer can. Woss the matter?" Mungojerrie stopped eating and looked up at Rumpleteazer. He knew her well enough to know when she was upset by something. Moving closer to her he wrapped an arm round her shoulders and hugged her tightly.

"It's Tumble..." Rumpleteazer stopped and looked down at her paws.

"Woss 'e done? If 'e's done anyfink ter hurt yer oi'll...", Mungojerrie began angrily jumping to his feet, his fur standing furiously on end.

"No, no, it's nuffink like that!" Looking alarmed the queen grabbed her friend before he could march out the den and do anything violent to Tumblebrutus. "We were talkin' about the future yesterday and 'e said 'e wanted kittens," she quickly clarified.

"Oh." Mungojerrie sat down again sheepishly. "Sorry."

"That's ok." She waved away his apology. "Anyway 'e wants kittens but oi'm not sure oi do. Wot do oi say ter him?"

_This is orkward, _Mungojerrie thought,_ How should oi know wot ter say ter him? He's 'er mate._ The thought of giving relationship advice was absolutely horrifying to the poor tom. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and tried to avoid looking at his friend. Having had no personal experience with this kind of situation he had no idea what you were supposed to say. Why couldn't Rumpleteazer just tell Tumblebrutus like she had just told him? It couldn't be that hard. Then they could discuss it together without having to involve anybody else. _She's waitin' for an answer. Say sumfink, Jerrie,_ he tried to tell himself but no noise came out when he opened his mouth.

"Yer don't 'ave ter talk ter me if yer don't want to," Rumpleteazer said. She sounded very hurt and looked like she thought Mungojerrie had let her down. As she got up to leave Mungojerrie noticed her eyes were full of tears.

"Teaz, oi'd luv ter help yer. Oi just don't know wot ter say that's 'elpful. Yer know oi'm not right good wiv emotional stuff." Grabbing her arm to stop her from leaving Mungojerrie pulled his friend into another hug. "Just tell 'im 'ow yer feel. 'e'll understand." _...Oi 'ope._

Rumpleteazer gave him a watery grin. "Yer fink?"

"Course." _...Oi 'ave no idea. Please don't ask me anyfink else. _

"Thanks, Jerrie. Yor such a great friend...", Rumpleteazer paused looking embarrassed, "...Jerrie..."

"Yeah?" _...Oh no._

"About having kittens...", she blushed and avoided his gaze.

"Yeah?" _...Wot can she want ter know now? _

There was a long pause before Rumpleteazer could actually ask her question. "...How do you actually have kittens?"

"Um..." _...This can't be 'appenin'. _

"It's just me mum wouldn't talk ter me about it." The little queen got up and came to sit right in front of Mungojerrie so he couldn't avoid her gaze.

The tom just stared at her a look of complete horror on his face. How could she not know that? Did she actually expect him to tell her?

Rumpleteazer blinked up at Mungojerrie with big innocent eyes. "Please tell me."

"W-well..." _...Wot do oi say? Wot do oi say? _"...Wen...two...um...people..." _...Oi can't do this!_ "Um...luv each uvver very much..." _...Help! Why couldn't Jenny 'ave told 'er this? _"...um...they...um...get certain..." _...Oi want ter disappear. _"...u-urges..." _...Please don't look at me._ "...and they...um...do things." _...Shit! _He went bright red and turned away quickly picking up some rubbish off the floor and playing with it so he wouldn't have to look at his friend.

His ears flicked as he thought he heard a snort from behind him. Whirling round Mungojerrie caught Rumpleteazer with her paw stuffed into her mouth trying to laugh quietly without him noticing.

When she realised he'd caught her she gave up on trying to be quiet and collapsed on the floor tears of laughter streaming down her cheeks. "Yor face," she managed to gasp after a few minutes and dissolved back into helpless giggles.

"That's not funny, Teaz. Oi fought yer were actually askin' me, yer idiot," Mungojerrie snapped quite relieved that it had only been a joke. His best friend could be such a pain when she wanted to be.

Regaining a tiny bit of self-control Rumpleteazer managed to sit up again and wipe her eyes. "Oi just couldn't miss the opportunity. Yer were so embarrassed wen oi asked yer about relationships." She began to giggle again at the far from pleased expression on Mungojerrie's face.

"If yer tell anyone about this..." Mungojerrie playfully shoved Rumpleteazer over so she fell in a heap on the floor then jumped on her and pulled her tail. She rolled over, grabbed his ear in her teeth and tugged on it. Together the two calicos rolled around the den batting at each other with their paws and trying to nip each other's tails or ears. They crashed into a large china lamp stood in one corner and sent it flying plunging them instantly into darkness with a loud crash of breaking pottery. Both cats froze, Rumpleteazer sat on Mungojerrie and Mungojerrie with Rumpleteazer's tail in his mouth.

"Oops," Rumpleteazer giggled and climbed off her friend pulling her tail out of his mouth, "Oi ffink we broke sumfink." She moved forwards to get a torch and stepped straight onto a large sharp shard of pottery. Letting out a shriek of pain Rumpleteazer jumped back clutching at her injured paw and tripped over Mungojerrie in the dark. With a loud crack her head smacked into the floor knocking her out.

"Teaz!" Frantically Mungojerrie felt around in the dark for his friend, careful not to hurt himself on the broken lamp, until he found her lying just to his left. Quickly he scooped her up and inched his way towards the exit to the den carefully avoiding the china littering the floor. Now his eyes had adjusted to the dark it didn't take long to get outside and climb down from the pile of junk his den was in to the clearing below. With a whimper Rumpleteazer stirred and slowly woke up looking very dazed and confused. "Are yer alright?", the tom demanded as he hurried towards Jennyanydots' den, "Yer 'ave ter be more careful."

"Oi'm fine," Rumpleteazer muttered and snuggled into Mungojerrie's chest burying her face in his warm fur.

They reached Jennyanydots' den and Mungojerrie knocked as loudly as he could hoping they weren't waking anybody up because of some stupid, avoidable accident. On the plus side though Skimbleshanks was away so if they were disturbing somebody it would only be Jennyanydots who would have had to get up to treat her daughter's injury anyway. Secretly Mungojerrie was glad that Skimble wasn't there. He hated the way the tabby always blamed him for everything that happened to Rumpleteazer even if it usually was her own stupid fault.

"Who is it? Has something happened?" Jennyanydots pulled the door open still clutching a cup of tea and a book. When she saw who it was she looked momentarily alarmed until Rumpleteazer looked up at her and gave her an embarrassed grin. Rolling her eyes the older queen stepped to one side to allow them to enter. "What did she do this time?", she asked Mungojerrie as his carried his best friend over to a pile of cushions and carefully put her down.

"She cut 'er por and knocked 'erself out." Jennyanydots bustled over with some water and bandages and bent down to look at the injured paw tutting and muttering about carelessness and clumsiness. "Will she be ok?", Mungojerrie wanted to know. _Probably, _he thought as he watched Rumpleteazer animatedly chatting to her mother while she cleaned and bandaged the cut.

Jennyanydots smiled at him. "She'll be absolutely fine, Jerrie. No harm done. Go back to bed and get some sleep. I'll take Rumpleteazer back to her den when I've finished this." She waved a paw at the small stack of bandages beside her.

"Yor not gonna use all them are yer?" The patient looked horrified. "I won't be able ter move me 'oole leg."

"Should have thought of that before you went and had a stupid accident," her mother told her sternly but winked at Mungojerrie when Rumpleteazer wasn't looking. "Good night. See you tomorrow."

"Night." Rumpleteazer waved cheerfully. As she did so Mungojerrie noticed some of the bandages from the stack had gone missing and grinned. Typical.

"Good night, Teaz. Good night, Jenny." The tom left the den and wandered back home. _So much for bein' rested. Oi'll 'ave ter start me plan tomorrow even if oi am tired. _Yawning Mungojerrie collapsed into bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.


	4. Chapter 4

The following morning Mungojerrie was up before anybody else, even Rumpleteazer. It was still dark outside and he could hear the rain had picked up and was now pounding on the roof of his den. An icy wind whistled past his nice warm home and when he opened the door it swirled in bringing a cloud of water with it that instantly chilled him to the bone. Shivering the tom slipped outside and ran as fast as he could across the Junkyard. Before he could do anything he needed to get some food. Then he could get started on his rescue.

It was an incredibly simple and he hoped effective plan for the day. He would steal the most valuable thing he could get his paws on and take it to Macavity claiming he'd happened to see it and thought it might be useful or something. Then when he was there he'd say he'd fallen out with the others Jellicles and wanted some time by himself and he'd ask if there was anything he could do for Macavity. If all went to plan then he'd be given the boring, easy job of feeding the prisoner. Then he'd just have to offer to do it every day so that Macavity's guards had more time to do other more important things. Hopefully his boss would just think he was being a creep so he'd be paid more and it wouldn't wouldn't occur to him to find anything suspicious.

In a narrow street just twenty minutes from home the calico tom stopped and glanced up and down the deserted, rain swept pavement. Satisfied that there were no humans watching him the cat crossed the road and jumped over a low wooden fence and into somebody's front garden. Trampling through some rather sad looking, pink flowers Mungojerrie arrived at the front door to the house and huddled under the porch to consider his next move. He was planning to steal some food here and then move on to find something to take to his boss, hopefully before the prisoner was given breakfast. Glancing up at the sky he reached the conclusion that he had maybe another hour or two left and would therefore need to hurry up.

With ease Mungojerrie jumped up at the door he was sheltering beside and pressed the bell with his paw. Then he ducked behind a large and very ugly plant pot shaped like a tortoise and waited for the owner of the house to open the door. It was the quickest and easiest way to get into the house without having to waste time looking for a chimney to climb down or an open window. "Who is it? What sort of person rings the bell at this time? Don't you know how early it is?", an angry voice ranted from inside the building and the front door was flung open by a man in blue striped pyjamas. He opened his mouth to shout at the early visitor but found nobody stood in front of him. Looking angry and confused the man lent out his door to look up and down the road, frowning when he couldn't see anybody.

Quick as a flash the thief crawled from his hiding place and slipped into the house while the man was still scowling out at the rain. Mungojerrie glanced around him and saw a large vase stood on the floor by the door. He jumped into it and crouched there very still waiting for the man to go away. "Bloody kids!" The owner of the house stormed past the hidden cat slamming the door loudly behind him and Mungojerrie heard him stamping up the stairs and complaining crossly to somebody upstairs about stupid practical jokes and how he would talk to the neighbours about their children's behaviour in the morning. Then everything was quiet.

Careful not to make a sound Mungojerrie climbed out of the vase and crossed the tiny hallway to the kitchen. The door was open so he slipped in and looked around. It seemed to be his lucky day because the humans had clearly had salmon for dinner the night before and hadn't thrown the leftovers away yet. There was still a good-sized portion of fish left on a plate on the table. With a smug grin the calico tom jumped onto the table and helped himself to the food. It wasn't the best salmon he'd ever eaten but it was passable and at least he hadn't had to search for it.

In a few minutes the plate was clean and Mungojerrie was quietly making his way back towards the exit. It was no problem for such an experienced burglar to press the door handle down by climbing on it and soon he was back outside in the rain jogging along the road towards a nicer area of town. There was a particular jewellery shop he had in mind where he had seen some very expensive items that would be just right for his plan. As he hurried along Mungojerrie went through his plan again in his head. It sounded good to him but what if something went wrong. He'd seen how Macavity dealt with people who betrayed him and it was not a pleasant memory. _Am oi actually doin' the right fin'? Oi'm riskin' so much for somebody oi don't even know. Is it really worff it?,_ the tom though briefly but then he pictured the beautiful, little queen again and he knew even if it was a stupid, suicidal idea he was going to try and save her. Speeding up Mungojerrie rushed through the wet streets lost in thought about the stranger he was trying to save.

Outside a smart shop with green velvet cushions covered in glittering, sparkling jewellery in the window the tom stopped. He had watched this shop for long enough to know that any minute now the cleaner would open the door to sweep the shop before it opened later in the morning. From inside there was a clatter and a bored looking cleaner came out carrying a mop. Mungojerrie took his chance and dived inside.

Fifteen minutes later the calico thief emerged from the shop carrying a priceless gold necklace in a small bag. _Easy,_ he thought as he casually strolled away down the street. So far his plan was going excellently.

When he got closer to Macavity's warehouse Mungojerrie slowed down and finally stopped. What was he going to say exactly? Suddenly he wished he'd thought it through more carefully. He couldn't let his boss suspect anything was amiss so the trick was to act naturally. If he rehearsed what he was going to say then it wouldn't sound genuine and if somebody caught him stood here it would look strange. Nervously the calico tom forced himself to walk forwards.

"What are you doing here?", a voice hissed from a narrow alley to his right making Mungojerrie jump. It was only just starting to get lighter so it took the tom a second to make out the shape of another cat in the shadows. "Lyssa sent me to find out."

"Oi've got sumfink for the boss," Mungojerrie said trying to look relaxed and calm.

"He's not expecting you or he would have let us know so what have you got for him?" A white and orange tom stalked towards Mungojerrie with his teeth bared and his claws out threateningly.

"Oi just 'appened ter see a necklace oi fought 'e might be able ter use for sumfink." Mungojerrie shrugged causally and took a few steps towards the warehouse door. "Can oi go in?"

The larger tom moved in front of him with a furious hiss to block the door. "Show me what's in the bag."

Rolling his eyes Mungojerrie tried not to sound too annoyed. "Oh come on, Aidan. Yer know me. It's 'ardly gonna be sumfink dangerous, is it?" When the other tom didn't move a muscle or relax Mungojerrie sighed and opened the bag taking out the necklace and handing it to the guard. "Happy now?" _Hurry up, yer idiot,_ he thought crossly.

Aidan studied the jewellery for a second. "Stay here!" He disappeared inside with the necklace leaving Mungojerrie stood outside tapping his paw in annoyance and wishing he'd be a bit quicker.

_How long can it take 'im? Woss 'e doin' anyway? Oi'm gonna kill 'im if 'e makes me late. _It would be a disaster if the prisoner had already been fed by the time he got there. Then what was he supposed to do? He'd have to think of a whole new plan. Mungojerrie paced up and down nervously.

At that moment Aidan reappeared looking annoyed. "Lyssa says you can come in if I escort you to the boss and don't let you wander off. She's not happy that you just turned up and I don't think the boss will be either." The orange and white tom gave Mungojerrie an unpleasant smirk and threw the necklace back at him. "Follow me." He turned and stalked back inside not waiting to see if the calico tom was following.

Hurriedly Mungojerrie went after him and found himself once again in Macavity's headquarters with the creepy feeling of being watched. He could see some of Macavity's guards lounging at the far end of the room but none of them were looking his way. Aidan threw them a jealous look as if he wished he could join them and snapped at Mungojerrie to keep up. Not needing to be told twice the calico tom sped up and soon they were in the corridor leading to their boss' office. Together they stopped outside the door and the guard knocked loudly throwing Mungojerrie an angry glare.

"What is it?", Macavity's silky voice demanded from inside the room and they heard his claws tapping on the floor.

Aidan pushed the door open and stepped in. "Mungojerrie to see you, boss. He says he has something for you." When Macavity nodded the henchcat beckoned to the burglar to enter the room and left with a satisfied grin as he saw the angry expression on his boss' face.

"What do you want?", Macavity asked his employee coming slowly and menacingly closer.

"Oi nicked this because oi fought yer might 'ave a use for it. It's very valuable." Mungojerrie held out the jewellery he'd stolen hoping against hope it was good enough to stop Macavity from being angry about being disturbed. He waited anxiously while the Hidden Paw examined the gift closely.

"Well done. This might be useful for something." _Don't be too enffusiastic_, Mungojerrie thought. "You can go now." Macavity turned away and went back to looking at some papers on his desk.

At the door Mungojerrie stopped and turned back to look at his boss. "One more fin'...Oi fell out wiv somebody at the Junkyard and oi'm not in a rush ter get back. Is there anyfink oi can do 'ere?"

Macavity looked up at him with an icy glare. "Ask my guards if they have a job for you," he snapped and turned to the next page of his notes.

With a grin Mungojerrie turned and left the room almost walking straight into Aidan who was leaning against the door frame studying his claws intently. Quickly he wiped the grin off his face and replaced it with a neutral expression. "Got any jobs that need doin'?", he asked the other tom.

Aidan looked slowly up at him. "I'm sure we can think of something." Mungojerrie got the distinct impression he was trying to think of the most boring jobs he could come up with. "Tocho, got any jobs you don't want to do?", the orange and white tom suddenly called making Mungojerrie jump. He hadn't noticed the Abyssinian approaching.

Tocho came over to join them and lent against the wall beside Aidan briefly giving the other henchcat a friendly grin before turning to Mungojerrie. "What are you doing here again?", he asked looking at the calico tom like he was something disgusting he'd stepped in. Clearly he was in a bad mood about something because he was normally at least pleasant to him.

"He brought the boss something and now he wants to know if there's anything helpful for him to do around here," Aidan told his friend before Mungojerrie had a chance to answer.

Immediately the Abyssinian tom brightened up and stopped scowling. "Actually I do have a job or two for you. Dylana dumped them on me because she said she was busy. There's some blood that needs cleaning up and some rubbish that has to go outside and you can take the food to that stupid prisoner." Tocho looked pleased that he had given the boring tasks to somebody else. Turning to Aidan he asked, "Want to go out hunting?"

"Of course! Let's go." The two henchcats wandered off down the corridor leaving Mungojerrie stood by himself silently celebrating his good luck. "You know where everything is, don't you? The blood that needs clearing is downstairs. You can't miss it," Aidan called back over his shoulder and without waiting for an answer the two toms disappeared.

For a minute Mungojerrie stayed stood where he was looking after them. _Oi've done it! So far so good. Now all oi 'ave ter do is make a good first impression, _he thought feeling very pleased with himself. Tantomile had been right after all when she'd said he shouldn't give up. He made a mental note to thank his friend the next time he saw her. Quickly he set off along the corridor to the cupboard where he knew all the food supplies were kept because he'd frequently been asked to steal nicer food than the rats and mice that the henchcats caught. He'd feed the little queen first and then he'd get on with the other jobs. He picked some nice salmon and took it out of the cupboard. He was probably meant to give her the rats and mice but there was nobody around to notice. Glancing around Mungojerrie hurried back to the door he'd first seen the mysterious queen through and pushed it open. It wasn't locked because she was chained up anyway.

Inside the beautiful white queen was sat perfectly still with her back to the door. She was leaning against the wall for support and there were deep scratches running down her side that slowly dripped blood, staining her silky fur red. Large bruises covered most of her back and sides and she was covered in tiny cuts. The chain around her ankle had been shortened so she couldn't even take a few steps away from the wall and the window had been covered so there was no natural light in the room. At the sound of the door creaking the queen's ears flicked but she didn't get up or turn around to see who had come in. At the sound of somebody approaching her the white queen hunched her shoulders protectively and turned her head away to face the wall. A single tear ran down her cheek and dripped onto her scratched and bruised paw.

Mungojerrie moved slowly closer holding the fish out to her. He spoke to her in a kind, friendly voice trying to reassure her, "It's ok, oi'm just bringing yer food. 'ere eat this." He reached out to put the salmon down in front of her but the queen flinched like he'd hit her and moved away, looking up at him with wide, frightened eyes. "It's alright, oi won't 'urt yer," Mungojerrie said soothingly and move back a little. A look of confusion crossed the queen's face only to be replaced almost instantly with a blank stare. The tom had never felt so sorry for anyone in his life. It made him angry to see such a beautiful creature locked up and hurt and frightened and at that moment he almost felt like trying to free her and fight his way out the building. Of course he knew it would never work and was most likely to get them both killed so he just sat back and watched her eat. She nibbled very carefully at the food glancing nervously around her every few seconds and jumping if he moved or made the slightest noise.

Suddenly the door burst open with a crash making both Mungojerrie and the prisoner jump and a furious grey Persian queen stormed into the room, a thunderous look on her face. Instantly the white queen cowered against the wall and began to tremble uncontrollably. "I don't see what's so good about her," the dark grey queen hissed and stalked over to the prisoner pulling her round so she was facing her. She looked the younger queen up and down and then dropped her carelessly back onto the floor. "She not even that pretty. She's too thin and she doesn't look after her fur. There's blood on it." The Persian queen began to pace up and down frowning and throwing furious glares at the little white queen pressed against the wall.

"Mornin', Dylana. Sumfink the matter?," Mungojerrie asked her trying not to sound too angry about the interruption. He noticed a black and white tom had come to lean in the doorway probably because he'd heard slamming and angry voices.

"Yes actually, there is!", Dylana spat and whirled round to face the calico tom her teeth bared and her claws out. "I just found out what he was doing with that little...that little...," she couldn't think of anything rude enough to say, "with _her_ yesterday." She pointed accusingly at the terrified white queen who shuddered and looked away.

"By 'im oi assume yer mean Aurélien or yer wouldn't be so angry and oi don't really want ter hear about wot 'e were doin' wiv 'er," Mungojerrie said hurriedly. For Dylana to be so angry there was only one thing her mate could have been doing and he really didn't want to hear all about it.

"Kaboom!", the tom in the doorway suggested animatedly a big grin spreading across his face.

"No, Rico! Now be quiet." Dylana paced in circles. "What does _she_ have that I don't have?", she demanded crossly glaring at the two toms, "I'm much prettier than _her _and much more intelligent."

Mungojerrie shrugged and Rico just pulled out a knife and began to toss it in the air and catch it again.

"I mean even if he was just bored I still don't see what he'd see in _her_. She's just so average and she's scared of everything." To prove her point the Persian queen swiped a paw at the other queen who shied away from her with a look of fear. "See! She doesn't have anything I don't have so why would he do that? It's not fair!" She stamped her paw furiously. "I'm way better than _her!_"

It occurred to Mungojerrie that if he let Dylana go on like this she would work herself up and end up hurting the poor queen. He decided it was better to stop her now and get her out the room before something happened. "Don't let 'er bovver yer, Dylana. Yer know 'e luvs yer. She's not worff it. If yer like oi'll look after 'er from now on so the uvvers don't 'ave ter do anyfink wiv 'er," he offered.

"That's a good idea. You do that." Dylana stuck her nose in the air and dramatically flounced from the room with a superior look on her face.

Mungojerrie followed closing the door behind him. He wanted to stay longer but had to be sure the Persian queen went away. Rico had already got bored and wandered off somewhere. As Dylana headed down the stairs Mungojerrie went off to do his other jobs with a big grin on his face. He'd just been told to look after the prisoner so he'd get to see her again. Everything was going exactly to plan. Mungojerrie rushed through the other chores impatient to get home and think of his next move.


End file.
